Interreg VA RomaniaBulgaria Programme Evaluation Plan Interreg VA

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme Evaluation Plan

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Evaluation Plan FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN: The Regulations and all specific aspects that have to be taken into account during evaluation The need for specific information in line with the result-oriented approach EC’s Guidance Document on evaluation plans: detailed information to be included in the plan MA’s general approach to make things less complicated, more transparent and more efficient The programme’s needs and expected evolution Coordination: the approach used in Romania for the other evaluation plans 2

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Evaluation plan It sets out an evaluation strategy for the entire implementation period of the programme It takes into account the expected evolution of the programme It can be later streamlined with the actual evolution of the programme It is proportionate with the financial allocation It takes into account the elements that are to be reported 3

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Planned evaluations One implementation evaluation October 2018 – April 2019 Evaluation of the management and implementation of the programme Assessment of the system functioning and management of the programme, carried out in order to improve the quality of its delivery Programme level - applicant’s guide and pack - project assessment, selection and contracting systems, monitoring system - overall management and control system - simplified cost options - use of TA - partnership principle Project level - patterns in successful projects; patterns in weak points - major difficulties - support to beneficiaries - reduction of administrative burden 4

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Planned evaluations One implementation evaluation October 2018 – April 2019 Evaluation of the design and relevance of the programme and its physical and financial progress Operational evaluation of the relevance and effectiveness of the programme, assessing the need of fine-tuning and recommendations for designing the future programme; assessment of the physical and financial progress of the programme and the lessons learnt in this respect Programme relevance - as compared to the existing needs of beneficiaries Physical and financial progress - implementation progress of each specific objective – both programme indicators and performance framework indicators - achievement of target values of indicators - de-commitment risk - prolonging risks/problems Project level - achievement of project objectives - application of equal opportunities and non-discrimination principle 5

Programme relevance Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Planned evaluations Are there more stringent uncovered needs that could be tackled under a future cross-border programme? Is the use of funds properly addressing the current development needs of beneficiaries in the programme area? Physical and financial progress – cut-off date: 31 December 2018 Which is the actual implementation progress as regards each specific objective? Which is the achievement level of programme indicators? Which is the achievement level of performance framework indicators as compared to the milestones for 2018? Will the progress to date (given the current trends) lead to the achievement of target values of programme and performance framework indicators? In case of nonachievement risk for the performance framework indicators target values, which are the main causes and how can they be addressed? Is there any de-commitment expected to take place at programme level? What specific actions should be taken in order to minimize the de-commitment risk? Are there any risks/unsolved problems hindering the smooth programme implementation that are emerging both in programming period 2007 -2013 and the current one and what could be done, in order to mitigate/ overcome them? Project level To what extent have the objectives of the projects financed under this programme been achieved or are about to be achieved? What are the possible internal and external factors affecting the achievement of the objectives (e. g. human resources, financial capacity)? How do the financed projects contribute to the application of equal opportunities and non-discrimination horizontal principle, especially as regards the equality between men and women? Indicative evaluation questions 6

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Planned evaluations One implementation evaluation October 2018 – April 2019 Evaluation of communication strategy Evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of the communication strategy - achievement of objectives - instruments and actions, tools - impact on the awareness of beneficiaries/potential beneficiaries 7

Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme – Planned evaluations One impact evaluation PA 3 April – October 2019 Evaluation for capturing the effects of the programme as a whole and its performance as regards each specific objective PA 2 PA 4 PA 1 PA 5 Assessment of the programme’s performance as regards each specific objective and of its impact as a whole, taking into account how support from ERDF has contributed to the objectives of each priority, in line with the result-focus of cohesion policy Taking into consideration their timing, the implementation evaluation and the impact evaluation shall constitute into one single evaluation contract to be performed in a coherent and continuous manner. 8

EXAMPLE Specific objective 1. 1 Improve the planning, Theory-based Programming development and coordination of cross evaluation (the exact document border transport systems for better combination of Financial data at connections to TEN-T transport network methods to be used for programme level each evaluation Cut-off date: 31 May 2019 question shall be Available Annual proposed by the What is the progress in improving the Implementation secondary and tertiary nodes connections to external evaluators in Reports TEN-T infrastructure in the cross-border area? the technical offer) Results of the What is the current and expected contribution Desk research Implementation of the interventions under the programme to Evaluation as regards Interviews this progress? the physical and Focus Groups financial progress of the What are the factors facilitating that programme and of the contribution? Expert Panels projects Are there any unintended effects of the Surveys List of projects funded programme in this field? and project description up to the cut-off date Indicative evaluation questions, indicative methods and tools, data available 9

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